Why older people should be looked after in cold weather
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The Hard Shoulder with Ciarán Cudahy. With the MG Hybrid and Electric range. On Newstalk. Metaeron have issued a status yellow for the entire country as temperatures are set to plunge to as low as minus five tonight with hazardous conditions anticipated. Joining me now for more on this is Joanna Donnelly, Metaeron meteorologist. Joanna, good afternoon. Welcome to the programme and happy new year to you.

Happy New Year to you too. So, Joanna, minus five degrees tonight. I was very surprised this morning by the severe frost on my car. It's going to be even colder tonight.

Yeah, because there's not an awful lot of heat in that sun. It's a beautiful day out there with the sun shining, but the angle of the sun at this time of year doesn't produce any actual heat. So the heat is only escaping at the moment. So as cold as it was last night, it's going to be colder overnight tonight. So temperatures way, way down. Okay, so status yellow for temperatures is a rare enough thing when it comes to cold temperatures. What are we looking at over the coming days in terms of how low can it go? Yeah.

Hello, can I go indeed? It can go pretty low once we get into that arctic air mass and if the heat continues to irradiate away we can see temperatures fall further. Now there's a complicating factor in that we're expecting the possibility of some snow over the weekend. Now some right so we've got rain coming up from the south and this cold air coming down from the north and those two meet rain turns to snow and sleet. If it lies, so if it stays on the ground it's

then it gets colder and colder still because the sun, what little sun does come through, gets reflected away in the daytime. So it could get as low as minus 10 next week. Now, there's a lot that can happen between now and then. First of all, it has to snow and it has to stick and it has to stay. So although that is a possibility, it's not a forecast just yet. Okay, so it's still fairly vague.

Yeah, we're just giving out a feeler for that. You know, we want to pay attention to the forecast of what's actually happening on a day-to-day basis. But, you know, there is the possibility if you have no vulnerable people or vulnerable animals that are in your care that you could look out for, now's the time to start being prepared for that.

OK, so as I said, the frost on my car this morning was very severe. It's going to be colder again tonight. In terms of driving conditions, what is that likely to do to our roads?

Well, look, I mean, I can't tell you the state of the rose where you are because I don't know whether they're gritted, whether they're wet, whether there's runoff on them. But the idea is know that it's freezing cold. And if it's freezing cold, then you can get ice. That's the way it is. If there's liquid on the ground and it's freezing cold, then that liquid is.

will freeze and it's slippy. So you want to take care, regardless of whether you know the road is gritted or not, you want to take care when you're out on the roads because it is going to be potentially an icy situation over the next few days. Now this cold, minus 5, possibly down as low as minus 10, is that potentially a life-threatening cold? I think it's actually...

Cold weather isn't as life-threatening as hot weather, would you believe? Because we're capable of making ourselves warm as humans by getting up and moving around, pulling on extra layers of clothes, finding shelter. There's an awful lot of vulnerable people out there, as we know, at the moment that can't find shelter, that haven't got access to a warm, safe space. So those are the people we really need to be watching out for over the next few days, the vulnerable that are exposed to those extreme temperatures.

And obviously you mentioned already animal welfare. Be mindful of animals that are outside.

Absolutely. Because, again, they can't seek shelter the way we can. So if we are in the care or we have animals in our care, then it's time to watch out for those. OK. And then finally, as you mentioned, the possibility of snow. Is there a possibility that on the very first day back at school next Monday, there could be snow and the kids won't go back to school?

There is the possibility, yes. So we have rain coming up from the south on an area of low pressure and it's moving into that cold air. So the thing about Ireland is we do have a fairly temperate climate. Things are generally quite mild and we'll know from experience that a lot of the time we might forecast snow and it turns to sleet. It turns to rain, even it rains out. So it's a very, very fine line between snow and sleet in Ireland. But

And if it's cold enough and the temperature comes down, the rain turns heavy enough, it can accumulate quite quickly. So the guide is a centimeter of rain is an inch or so.

sorry, a millimetre of rain is a centimetre of snow. That's what it is. So that's not an awful lot of rain, but it turns into a lot of snow very, very quickly. And if there's wind, which there is, there's wind associated with this low pressure, it'll drift, which means that the snow will blow into piles on the sides of the roads and sides of hedges and sides of buildings where it's stuck. So it can become quite,

disruptive. Okay, so as you said already, that's not a forecast yet. It's more watch this space and see how the weather develops over the weekend. Absolutely, it's a heads up. Metair and meteorologist Joanna Donnelly, thank you very much indeed for joining us on the programme. Thank you. Now, despite some of us being excited about the prospect of snow, this cold snap can have serious effects, especially on

Thank you.

weather forecasters predicting minus 10 degrees, particularly for older people? I think the reality is for older people, and especially those over 70 or with underlying chronic conditions and living on their own, it's a bit of a public health issue because we've been tabulating over

Older people have high levels of energy poverty. You've got excess winter deaths in the winter. So some people can ultimately, when the cold snap's gone, get pneumonia or colds, et cetera, et cetera, which can be quite serious. And then the risk of falls for older people is huge, that if somebody falls 50...

On a good day, 15% of older people who end up in hospital is because of falls. So if there's ice on the ground or snow on the ground, that goes up, people end up... And a fall or a broken hip above 70, above 75 can be life-changing. You have called on older people to reach out to community and supports for any issues that they might have. One of the problems with older people, I should imagine, is...

a pride thing and not wanting to reach out, thinking that you can cope perfectly well on your own? Yeah, look, at the end of the day, older people are their own best resource and they'll make that decision. And ultimately, the advice is for older people, and we know energy can cost and heating your house and people live in low BOR rating houses, older people, but ultimately, prioritise heating.

Prioritise getting medication in, prioritise getting a hot meal, layers, keep moving and really the phone charged and keep in touch. And older people will make part of that decision of when they need support. For us, we're there 12 hours a day, seven days a week. We've a cold weather. We supported 42,000 people last year and we now have a cold weather response. We're reaching out to people who use our services across the country. But on the far side,

Also, just people to reach out to people in their own network, whether younger people or family or friends to reach out. A friendly phone call. So tell me how a loan helps on a practical basis. Well, I suppose what we'll do now for the people that have used our services, one, if anybody wants to call us, we're there 12 hours a day. And no matter what the issue is, we'll support them, whether that's access to medication, health care.

heating our food and other things that might also be going on why they need our support because a third of older people live on their own. For us then, all our staff and volunteers will be checking in with those 42,000 older people who have used our services and reaching out, especially to those ones we are aware are the most vulnerable. We'll also be liaising with other community groups, the Guard, Civil Defence,

depending on where this goes, as you heard from Joanna there is, hopefully this passes quickly, but then on the far side, it could also scale up. Yes, it could be quite severe. Yeah, it could be quite severe listening to what she was saying. So for older people who might be listening to us now who live alone, you're suggesting that they reach out to family and friends and you would like to think the family and friends will reach out to them as well. But

Because sometimes you think, oh, well, somebody else is going to look after Mary or whatever. Well, look, there's an old tagline we used years ago, which was, don't leave it to others. They may have left it to you.

And ultimately is this is the time when the community, whether COVID, winter, snow, this is where you see the best of the community, where people rally around. And as I said, older people will need to take precautions because people have to realise that it is a public health issue and that a bad fall in the ice or the snow or in your house or ultimately is is.

No, not prioritising heating could be a life-changing issue, especially knowing that around 30% of over 65s actually do live on their own. And yes, it's that high. Absolutely. I mean, I suppose it's a different conversation for a different day, but ultimately that's why we deal with huge levels of loneliness, housing issues, finance issues, because if you're short of health or if you're short of housing or short of finance, it really doesn't matter what age you are, it's a struggle.

OK, so let's look again, just to recap on the practicalities. I mean, it stands to logical reason, but sometimes you kind of need to re-emphasise keeping the heating on at home. It can be difficult for some people because of the cost of energy. And I think that's what people need to prioritise. Spend the money on heating at the moment, spend it on food, make sure you have your medication.

you know, if there's a situation that you're worried about the bill in the future, reach out to people like ourselves, reach out, you know, there's other interventions that can be made when that bill comes in. But now is not the time because unfortunately, again, I'm not a clinician, but our understanding and from our experience, we know that actually what happens is people get sick after the cold snap because they've got too cold in the cold snap. So ultimately, please don't worry about the money around heating. You know,

And what I'd say to you is we do winter intervention. The utility companies past these events are generally very understanding and we can help negotiate that with them as well or other agencies can as well. And you're also suggesting that I think of the frost on my car this morning. Our driveway was like an ice rink. You're suggesting that people should avoid making journeys that involve going outdoors. Look, I...

Again, older people and everybody's in a different scenario will make that judgment for themselves. But the point where it is, is one in three older people fall two or three times a year, those over 70. And if people are at risk of falling, they've got to make the decision. This will pass quickly, as you say, it could get bad, but it'll pass quickly. But ultimately it falls. Around 20% of older people who break a hip die within the next year.

And for others, it's a trip to A&E and it could be a long journey back to where they were or not at all. And so ultimately is people just need to be cautious around that and realise that, you know, it may not be worth the trip on a bad, if the ice is bad in the ground, let it thaw away or ultimately is just get support if you need somebody to. It's a great world now for getting things delivered.

And ultimately people for a couple of days can reach out and we can organise those types of things for them. Very good. Just a couple of comments actually from our listeners. What's all important, says Carla, is calling into older people in the cold. It's also that they get a connection with the outside world. And again, to reiterate, don't leave it to somebody else. If you have a neighbour, a relative, your mammy, your daddy, whatever, visit.

don't leave it to somebody else. Check in on them yourself. Absolutely. I think this is when, as I said, the community comes at its best and ultimately this is when we appreciate it. I think people are always nervous with what will people say. But the reality of it is every great friendship starts with hello and none of us ever turn down somebody who is actually trying to be kind to us in that reality.

We're all grateful for it because at some stage in all our lives, we need support or care from our friends, our family and our relatives. Sean Moynihan, CEO of Elone, thank you very much indeed for popping into us here at Newstalk. And just one final message to read out on the weather. We're talking about temperatures of minus 10. We got this message in and it says, I wish it was going to be that warm this week. We're going to minus 11.

40 tonight and the winds, frostbite is what we have to deal with here and it happens in seconds some days. I'm in central West Canada right now so spare a thought as we are threatened with minus 10. Think of the people living with minus 40.